'Shot at history passes Scotland by amid Irish ferocity'

Half an hour after the latest Scotland debacle in Dublin, Jack Dempsey walked up the touchline at the Aviva Stadium in his underpants. No shorts, no socks, no boots.

No Triple Crown, no hope of winning the Six Nations title, no end to their hideous run of defeats against Ireland - now standing at 12 and with no discernible sign of it stopping there.

Dempsey had been shorn of many things by a thunderous Ireland performance - a revisiting of a familiar narrative. Irish power and Irish ruthlessness. Irish creativity and class, too.

Scotland battled to stay in touch, but it was a grind.

They emptied the tank in trying to keep themselves alive, fighting against the shortcomings in their attacking game - this was the polar opposite of a week ago against France - and a big error count brought on by the relentless heat of Irish pressure.

They never really got to grips with the day. To rattle Ireland they needed a fast start and a lead, which they've rarely had in this game. In the 11 meetings leading up to this one they had led for just 65 minutes of 880 minutes. You can now make that 65 minutes out of 960. Astonishing.

When Finn Russell's try and conversion made it 19-14 there was a brief moment of hope, but Ireland responded within just three minutes.

When Rory Darge gave new life to belief that a comeback might - might - happen with a wonderful team try, again Ireland hit back nine minutes later. Hope snuffed out.

Scotland threatened, but the hosts were always in control. This was a victory largely built on ferocity - Andy Farrell's team made somewhere between 227 and 232 tackles, their highest tally in 15 years - but the subtlety of some of their tries, the ambition and accuracy in their attack was something special.

Unexpected and gobsmacking. If this is Ireland in transition, the finished product is going to be a truly scary thing.

With six minutes to go in this recurring Scottish nightmare, Ireland led by 15 points, a fair reflection of the brutality they visited upon the visitors, a reward for their relentless physical pressure on both sides of the ball.

The visitors banged a penalty into touch. Their hopes of chasing Irish demons from their door had gone, but with a five-metre lineout to come there was a chance of a crumb. A shot at a four-try bonus point still existed. A consolation on a savagely hard game, but something.

They horsed through the phases, giving everything but getting nothing. Half a dozen players and more had a blast. Repelled at every turn. You felt them - and you suspected this bout of pressure was going to end in a way that so many have ended over the years.

Tadhg Beirne went for the kill. A split-second opportunity and he turned it over. Him again. The Aviva saluted him as Scotland would have cursed him.

Scotland got off the floor and they were burst. Utterly spent. In reaching into the ruck it was like Beirne had also reached into their soul, and in that act came a moment of clarity.

How can Scotland beat Ireland when Ireland have such a stubborn insistence on being so damned good in this game?

Beirne's retirement would help. All of Scotland would chip in for a present. He's been a total colossus in this fixture in the past and he was again on Saturday. He's 34, but the bad news for Scotland is he shows no sign of slowing down.

Beirne wasn't player of the match - that was Caelan Doris - but it could have been him or Stu McCloskey or any number of others - but he was massively influential, a symbol of what Ireland have in abundance and what Scotland don't have enough off - power, aggression, ruthlessness at every turn.

Grant Gilchrist and Max Williamson put in big shifts but you did wonder what might have happened had Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown been out there.

Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Who knows? They'd have had extra dog, for sure. But enough dog to silence the Irish rottweilers? Doubtful.

There were too many weaknesses in Scotland's game, too many chances wasted, too many balls put on the deck, too much vulnerability in critical times in defence, too much passiveness in attack early on.

Was it too much to hope that they could go again after the greatness of their victory over France? Perhaps.

For many teams it's been a championship of highs followed by lows. Scotland battered England and then dipped against Wales. They annihilated France but couldn't reproduce anything like that performance in Dublin.

Ireland destroyed England then had a dip against Italy and Wales before putting Scotland to the sword.

Italy beat England and then a week later fell in Cardiff.

The rollercoaster nature of it all is what has made this championship, arguably, the finest in Six Nations history. Supposed experts have been made to look like fools. Ireland were supposed to be vulnerable against rampaging Scotland. No.

Darcy Graham said they were there for the taking. Wrong. He also said they are still world class. He got that bit right.

This was supposed to be a get-able Ireland. So much for that. The only regret for Farrell is that France defeat at the start of the championship. How they would love to have that one back. Right now, on this form, they might power through them to win.

So, Scotland's campaign ends with three wins and a third-placed finish.

Progress, for sure, even if it didn't feel like it when Sione Tuipulotu, jaded from the vast scale of the effort he and his team had put in, coughed up ball at the end of the contest and Tommy O'Brien scored in the corner off a basketball-style pass from McCloskey.

The Ulster centre was outstanding again, a player overlooked for the longest time and now a prime contender for man of the tournament.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has been through the wringer. He finished on a downer in Dublin.

His team under performed in too many areas but the simple truth is that Ireland have more guns than they have, more toughness, more characters who will go to any length in order to win.

This harsh reality keeps hitting them right between the eyes.

They have stepped forward in this championship, but with each Irish try and each moment of Irish attrition you were reminded of the distance Scotland have left to travel.

They're moving in the right direction but there's a long and difficult road ahead. That was the moral of the story in Dublin.

It always is when Scotland face their greatest nemesis.